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The Obama campaign is excited about Duffy Lyon’s potential to give them traction at a time when many Democrats believe Clinton is pulling away.
AP Photo

Could Duffy Lyon be bigger than Oprah?

The Obama campaign hopes so, at least in the parts of Iowa off the four-lane.

Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) needs to make a cultural connection with the rural caucus-goers of Iowa, a state that will make or break his presidential campaign.

So Obama has enlisted Duffy Lyon, a farmer famous for sculpting cows out of butter at the Iowa State Fair, to give him tractor cred on the radio, amid the farm news and pickin’ music.

The butter cows, a Hawkeye State icon, use 600 pounds of butter and are 5-1/2-ft high and 8-ft long. (This year, there was a butter Harry Potter.)

Oprah Winfrey’s endorsement tickled his Obama’s fundraisers in California, but hasn’t translated into a noticeable bump in national polls.

Duffy to the rescue! Obama today begins airing a 60-second radio ad called “For Us” – on country music and other stations — in which she introduces herself as raising “dairy cows and beef cattle here in Iowa.”

“But you might remember me as the state fair's Butter Cow Lady,” she says. “You know, you see a lot of manure in our line of work. It’s a lot like politics. You got to know what’s bull and what’s for real. Barack Obama’s got a real plan for rural America. And it’s gutsy because it looks out for us, not lobbyists. It ends huge payments to factory farms that drive family farms out of business and gets rid of income taxes for most Iowa seniors. But the best part is he listened and knows our kids need opportunity here in Iowa so they don’t have to leave home to follow their dreams. Even if that dream is 500 pounds of butter shaped like a cow. Barack Obama. He’s change we can believe in. And that’s no bull.”

“Change we can believe in” is intended as a subtle contrast with Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), who is the runaway leader in national polls but is working hard to wrest a durable Iowa lead from Obama and former senator John Edwards of North Carolina.

The phrase has appeared in other Obama ads, and sources say it will be used again.

The Real Clear Politics average of Iowa polls in the Democratic race has Clinton up by 5.2 percentage points, at 28.8 percent, compared to 23.6 percent for Obama and 21.2 percent for Edwards.

The Obama campaign is excited about Duffy Lyon’s potential to give them traction at a time when many Democrats believe Clinton is pulling away.

“This is in some ways a more effect surrogate than getting some elected official or national celebrity,” said Bill Burton, press secretary of Obama for America.

A press release from the Iowa State Fair says it has boasted a “Butter Cow” since the early 1900. “Norma ‘Duffy’ Lyon of Toledo, Iowa, continued the legacy, becoming the third person and first woman to sculpt the Fair's butter beauties,” the release says. “Duffy achieved international acclaim for her sculptures. Her works were displayed in 13 states and Canada, she appeared on national television including 'The Today Show' and 'Late Night with David Letterman' and she was featured in several national magazines and on radio stations around the globe. She retired in 2006 after 46 years of sculpting.”

His plan, “Real Leadership for Rural America” promises to limit subsidies to wealthy corporate farmers and create incentives for conservation and sustainability. As part of the plan, he also touts his proposals to eliminate income taxes on most seniors, lower health care costs, protect pensions, strengthen schools and expand economic opportunity in rural communities.

I just can't believe with the amount of people that I know joining Obama's camp that these national polls are true. I hope there is a rude awakening on primary night in Iowa for all those poll takers!!!

I'm afraid Edwards should throw in the towel and go home and spend time with his wife now. He could be a potential V.P. candidate, or run for the Senate again, where I think he might do more good as a real representative of the wishes of his constituency and the overwhelming majority of American Democrats and Independents. Many in Congress have abandoned any pretence of representing the voters who elected them. Edwards seems to have the temperament to play a more forceful role there than he could as president. It's the old "Peter Principle" at work, i.e. that the presidency would promote him just one notch above his best capacities.

As to Obama and his butter cow, Obama seems to be taking the tack that he can get his message across with humor. People want to read about the butter cow and they end up reading the substance of the article, Obama's agricultural program. It might work, or it might make him appear lightweight - as fluffy as a whipped butter cow.

I agree. The contrast between the polls and what one sees on the ground clearly indicates that something is not making sense. And, since what is going on on the ground is something you can see, then the polls are wrong. I simply cannot believe that any candidate can build such a formidable grassroots organization and be constantly recruiting people and raising untold amounts of money if the polls are correct.

The logical thing to expect from someone who is allegedly more than 20 points behind the frontrunner is that support and enthusiasm would quickly fizzle, as it has for Edwards. To be sure, a "perfect" poll, if it were possible to design one, would still show Hillary ahead, but not by that much.

It is also possible that so many people still believe that Gore may run that they are holding back on supporting anyone until they know for sure. Once they realize that Gore will NOT run (get over it, fellow democrats. I love Gore too but he is not running!), things should change. I suspect that, at the moment, Gore's supporters are about evenly split between Hillary and Obama; but if Gore endorses Obama, Barack could reap a windfall - especially amongst liberals.

This lady sounds like a great endorsement for My Candidate, better than a celebrity.

The national polls are absolutely hogwash! It is an attempt by the establishment to damp Hilary on us. Anyone with an intimate knowledge of the intricate organization of the Obama campaign and the response and connection that Obama elicits with people on the campaign trail knows there is something terribly misleading about polls showing Hilary at 30+ or 20+ ahead. Obama is our next president!!

Crew2me and Sadanth, Wow, I was thinking the same thing about these polls. Could it be that young people only have cell phones and pollsters don't call them? He does very well with younger voters. I don't hear anybody say they support Hillary, but the Obama supporters are very vocal and enthusiastic. Where's the disconnect?

This is another great 'endorsement' for Obama, even though the word 'endorsement' is nowhere to be found. The way the article is written sucks -- the implications, the subtle innuendos. My mother used to say if you can't say anything good about a person don't say anything at all. Most of these column writers could take heed to that because the title and this article is written with the voice of sounding as though Obama went out and strangled Duffy Lyon to back him, when she clearly obviously thinks he's the one to be a great president, at least for Iowa. Instead of invoking the 'ani- Obama' stuff -- Clinton being the runaway leader in polls and Oprah endorsement not giving Obama a bump, and Obama 'needing to enlist...', and 'Duffy to the Rescue', and 'to give him tractor cred on the radio', etc. etc., all this meany crud, why couldn't all that have been left unsaid and this have just been a nice, positive "Duffy Lyon the Iowa Butter Sculptress Endorses Obama", like it would have been written had Duffy Lyon endorsed Clinton, and how all endorsements are written about Clinton. Try extracting these 'little nasties' and you actually come out with a really nice piece about another fantastic Obama endorsement.

Well, she sure knows how to "butter up' the voters and "spread" the word about Barack's vision for Iowa and America. Don't forget to 'mooooooooooove' to Obama's side of the issues and get the 'real thing', not that 'fake' margarine stuff that Hillary has been 'spreading'. Now remember, when Hillary says "Parkay"....you say "Barack".

Obama has a real chance in IA. A candidate needs a 10-11% lead to win. Since Clinton only has a 5% lead in Obama certainly has a chance to win. Besides I think the IA poll is probably more of a reflection of of the spread nationwide. Based on my own personal poll I just dont see HRC that far ahead of Obama. I was pleased to find out my son-in-law, a republican, is going to vote for Obama.

Many polls are being manipulated and the other reason for Clinton's lead has more to do with name recognition than anything else. Barack is going to win Iowa because of his appeal to true Iowans such as Ms. Lyon. Clinton will lose Iowa becuase of things like her "rural" summit that is being held at the offices of Monsanto's Washington lobbyist. Also, for candidates who are not viable at any given caucus site, Barack is likely to pick up more people when they have to move to another candidate due to not reaching the 15% minimum.

The polls are manipulated by Hillary's cronies and the Republican party. The Republican psrty is praying for Hillary to be her party nominee because they will easily dismantle her 2008 campaign. Hillary will not be the Democratic nominee because many Democrats have come to know that the Republican party will completely whipe out Hillary's presidential bid and many Democratic senatorial and congressional bid.